Engine



Jun 24,1969 J.H.HUFF 3,4 1 38 ENGINE- Filed May 16, 1967 She'et of INVENTOR. :SQ Q JOSEPH H. HUFF BY FH Hmwmum ATTORNEYS.

June 24, 1969 ENGINE Sheet 2 of3 Filed May 16, 1967 Fig.4

INVENTOR. JOSEPH H. H UFF ATTORNEYS J. H. HUFF June 24, 1969 ENGINE Sheet Filed May 16, 1967 O T N E m JOSEPH H. HUFF ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,451,382 ENGINE Joseph H. Huff, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Floyd H. Dreyer, Indianapolis, Ind., trustee Filed May 16, 1967, Ser. No. 638,987 Int. Cl. F02b 53/10 U.S. Cl. 12318 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An engine comprising a piston arranged to oscillate about an axis in an arcuate chamber having a high-compression head at one of its ends and a low-compression head at the other of its ends, the chamber being formed to provide a passageway communicating between the space bounded by the piston and the low-compression head and the space bounded by the piston and the high-compression head. Means are provided for admitting fuel to the first-mentioned space, the fuel being forced by the piston through the passageway into the second-mentioned space.

The present invention relates to engines, and more particularly to engines of the type having a piston arranged to oscillate about an axis in an arcuate chamber having a high-compression head at one of its ends and a low-compression head at the other of its ends. The housing defining the arcuate chamber is formed to provide a passageway communicating between the space bounded by the piston and the low-compression head and the space bounded by the piston and the high-compression head, the passageway being opened and closed by the movement of the piston in the chamber. Novel means are provided for admitting fuel to the first-mentioned space, the fuel being forced by the piston through the passageway into the second-mentioned space.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a stationary, cylindrically-shaped, outer housing and an oscillable, cylindrically-shaped, inner housing are arranged to provide an annular space which is divided by a plurality of radially inwardly extending high-compression heads and an equal number of radially inwardly extending lowcompression heads into a plurality of arcuate chambers. Each arcuate chamber receives a vane-like piston carried by the inner housing for oscillation therewith, the inner housing being arranged to oscillate about its axis, which axis coincides with the axis of the outer housing. Each piston is oscillable between one of the high-compression heads and one of the low-compression heads. The necessary fuel mixture is provided to the interior of the inner housing and means are provided for transferring the fuel mixture from the interior of the inner housing to the spaces bounded by each piston and its associated low-cornpression head. The outer housing is formed to provide a passageway communicating between the space bounded by each piston and its associated low-compression head and the space bounded by the piston and its associated high-compression head, the fuel mixture being forced by the piston through the passageway when the piston moves toward its associated low-compression head. Thus, the fuel mixture, which is admitted to the interior of the inner housing and drawn into the low-compression space of each arcuate chamber, is forced into the high-compression space of each arcuate chamber, where it is compressed and ignited. A preferred means for admitting the fuel mixture from the interior of the inner housing to the low-compression space of each chamber will be described, in detail, as this description progresses.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an engine comprising a housing defining an arcuate chamber in which a piston is oscillably received, the

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piston being arranged to oscillate between a high-compression head and a low-compression head, the housing being formed to provide a passageway communicating between the space bounded by the piston and the low-compression head, and the space bounded by the piston and the high-compression head, the passageway being opened and closed by the piston, and means for admitting a fuel mixture to the first-mentioned space, the fuel mixture being forced through the passageway by the piston into the second-mentioned space.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent as this description progresses.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, the present invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned end view of the engine of the present invention with the front end wall removed to show the four arcuate chambers and the piston oscillably received in each chamber;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 2-2 and showing the two end walls which are positioned relative to the cylindrically-shaped outer housing and the cylindrically-shaped inner housing to form the arcuate chambers in which the pistons are received;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing the means for coupling the inner housing to the output shaft of the engine so that, when the inner housing oscillates, the output shaft will rotate,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 44 and showing one of the circumferentially elongated apertures in the inner housing, which aperture receives the output shaft and, additionally, provides one valve means for admitting fuel 20 the low-compression space of two of the arcuate cham- Y ers;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional View taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 5-5 and showing another valve means for admitting fuel to the low-compression space of two arcuate chambers;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken from FIG. 1 generally along the line 66 and showing a passageway formed in each of the end walls, which passageways provide communication between the space bounded by one of the pistons and its associated low-compression head and the space bounded by the piston and its associated high-compression head;

FIG. 7 is a somewhat diagrammatical view showing two of the pistons adjacent their respective low-compression heads and two of the pistons adjacent their respective high-compression heads; and

FIG. 8 is another somewhat diagrammatical view showing the movement of the pistons away from their positions shown in FIG. 7.

The engine of the present invention will be illustrated and described as a two-cycle oscillating engine wherein power impulses are exerted upon oppositely disposed pistons simultaneously, which pistons are attached to an oscillating element. It will be understood that the inventive principles described herein are applicable to other types of engines, such as a two-cycle diesel engine or a fourcycle gas or diesel engine. Of course, a four-cycle engine requires extra valving which is not discussed herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the engine of the present invention, indicated generally by the reference number 10, comprises a cylindrically-shaped, outer housing 12 which may be bolted or otherwise securely fastened to a frame, a cylindrically-shaped inner housing 14 having an axis coinciding with the axis of the outer housing 12, the inner housing 14 being oscillable about its axis as will be discussed in the following paragraphs. A pair of oppositely disposed, radially inwardly extending high-compression heads, indicated generally by the reference numbers 16 and 18, and a pair of low-compression heads, indicated generally by the reference numbers 20 and 22, are arranged to divide the annular space between the outer housing 12 and inner housing 14 into four, equally spaced segments. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that a front end wall 24 and back end wall 26 are mounted on the outer housing 12 by means, such as the screws 28. Thus, the outer housing 12, inner housing 14, front and back end walls 24 and 26, high-compression heads 16 and 18 and low-compression heads 20 and 22 define four arcuate chambers indicated generally by the reference numbers 30, 32, 34 and 36, the oscillable inner housing 14 providing the innermost cylindrical wall for each of the four chambers. Four radially outwardly extending, vane-like pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 are carried by the inner housing 14 for oscillation therewith, the piston 38 being oscillably received in the chamber 32, the piston 40 being oscillably received in the chamber 34, the piston 42 being oscillably received in the chamber 36, and the piston 44 being cillably received in the chamber 30. The piston 38 oscillates between the high-compression head 18 and the lowcompression head 22, the piston 40 oscillates between the high-compression head 16 and the low-compression head 22, the piston 42 oscillates between the high-compression head 16 and the low-compression head 20 and the piston 44 oscillates between the high-compression head 18 and the low compression head 20.

Each piston 3844 carries a pair of seals 46 adjacent its high-compression face and a single seal 48 adjacent its low-compression face. Of course, it is conventional to provide such seals on a piston which oscillates in a chamher so that, when the piston oscillates, a fuel mixture can be compressed in the chamber. Additional seals 51] are arranged to provide a seal between each high-compression head 16 and 18 and the outer surface of the inner housing 14.

When the pistons 38 and 42 are adjacent the highcompression heads 18 and 16, respectively, the pistons 40 and 44 are adjacent the low-compression heads 22 and 20, respectively. Thus, when the pistons 38 and 42 are forced in the direction of the arrows 52, by the combustion of a fuel mixture in the chambers 32 and 36, respectively, the pistons 40 and 44 will be driven in the direction of the arrows 52 (FIG. 1) to compress a fuel mixture in the chambers 34 and 30, respectively. This firing sequence will be discussed, in greater detail, in conjunction with FIGS. 7 and 8.

Each of the chambers 30, 32, 34 and 36 is divided into two spaces by the piston disposed therein. For instance, the chamber 32 is divided into the space 32a bounded by the piston 38 and the low-compression head 22 and the space 32b bounded by the piston 38 and the high-compression head 18. Of course, as the piston 38 moves in the direction of the arrow 52, the space 32a between the piston 38 and the low-compression head 22 decreases while the space 32b between the piston 38 and the high-compression head 18 increases. To facilitate this description, the two spaces a and b of each chamber 39, 32, 34 and 36 will be referred to as the low-compression space a and the high-compression space b. That is, the spaces bounded, in part, by the low-compression heads 20 or 22 are defined as the low-compression spaces and the spaces bounded, in part, by the high-compression heads 16 or 18 are defined as the high-compression spaces.

Each of the end plates 24 and 26 is formed to provide a passageway communicating between the low-compression space and the high-compression space of each chamber 30, 32, 34 and 36. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the end plate 26 is provided with a pair of ports 54 and 56 opening into the chamber 32, the ports 54 and 56 being connected by a cavity 58. The ports 54 and 56 and the cavity 58 provide a passageway communicating between the low-compression space 32a and the high-compression space 32b of the chamber 32. Thus, when a fuel mixture is admitted to the lower-compression space 32a of the chamber 32 and the piston 38 is moved in the direction of the arrow 52, the fuel mixture is forced by the piston 38 through the port 54, cavity 58 and port 56 into the high-compression space 32b of the chamber 32. Subsequently, when the piston 38 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow 52, the fuel mixture in the high-compression space 32b of the chamber 32 is compressed. All the chambers 30, 32, 34, and 36 are identical and, therefore, the end plates 24 and 26 are provided with additional ports 54 and 56 and connecting cavities 58 which provide two passageways communicating between the high-compression space b and the low-compression space a of each chamber. Referring to the sectional view of FIG. 2, the ports 56 communicating with the highcompression space of the chambers 30 and 34 will be seen. Referring now to the sectional view of FIG. 6, the ports 54 and 56 and cavities 58 providing passageways communicating between the high-compression space and low-compression space of the chamber 36 will be seen.

Each of the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 is arranged to open and close the ports 54 and 56 associated therewith, thereby opening and closing the passageways between the high-cornpression space and the low-compression space of the chamber in which the piston is disposed. Of course, the passageways associated with each piston 38, 40, 42 and 44 must be closed by the piston when the piston is adjacent its high-compression head 16 or 18 and opened when the piston approaches its low-compression head 20 or 22.

An output shaft 60 for the engine 10 is journalled in the outer housing 12 by means, such as the bearing 64 shown at the right-hand side of FIG. 1, to extend through the inner housing 14 and low-compression heads 20 and 22. Preferably, the axis of the shaft 60 intersects perpendicularly the axes of the outer housing 12 and inner housing 14. Since the shaft 60 is journalled for rotation about a stationary axis, and since the inner housing 14 is oscillable about its axis, the inner housing 14 must be provided with a pair of oppositely disposed, circumferentially elongated apertures 66 and 68 which receive the shaft 60. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the aperture 66 provides communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression space of the chamber 32 when the piston 38 is adjacent the highcompression head 18 and the aperture 68 provides communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression space of the chamber 36 when the piston 42 is adjacent the high-compression head 16. When the pistons 40 and 44 are adjacent their respective high-compression heads 16 and 18, the aperture 66 provides communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression space of the chamber 34 and the aperture 68 provides communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression space of the chamber 30. A pair of circumferentially extending shoes 70 and 72 is mounted on the low-compression head 22 and arranged slidably to engage the outer surface of the inner housing 14, thereby providing a valve means for alternately permitting and preventing communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression spaces of the chambers 32 and 34. That is, as the inner housing 14 oscillates, the aperture 66 oscillates relative to the shoes 70 and 72 as suggested by the solid-line and dashed-line drawings of the aperture 66 in FIG. 4. When the aperture 66 is at its far left position (FIG. 4), there is communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the chamber 32 through the opening indicated by the reference number 67, and when the aperture 66 is at its far right position, there is communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the chamber 34 through the opening indicated by the reference number 69. The piston 38 is provided with a cut-out 74 for receiving the shoe 72 and the piston 40 is provided with a similar cut-out 76 for receiving the shoe 70. A pair of shoes 78 and 80, similar to the shoes 70 and 72, is mounted on the low-compression head 20 and arranged alternately to permit and prevent communication between the interior of the inner housing 14 and the low-compression spaces of the chambers 30 and 36 through the aperture 68. The shoes 78 and 80 are received in cut-outs, not shown, in the pistons 42 and 44, respectively, which cut-outs are similar to the cut-outs 74 and 76.

From the above description, it will be apparent that a fuel mixture admitted to the interior of the inner housing 14 will pass through the aperture 66 into the low-compression spaces of the chambers 32 and 34, and through the aperture 68 into the low-compression spaces of the chambers 30 and 36. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the end walls 24 and 26 are provided with centrally' located apertures 82 and 84, respectively, for admitting fuel to the interior of the inner housing 14. A conventional carburetor, not shown, may be mounted on the mounting surface 86 of the end wall 24 and secured in place by screws, now shown, which threadedly engage the tapped holes 88. The end wall 26 is provided with a similar mounting surface 90 including tapped holes 92, the mounting surface 90 being provided to support still another carburetor, not shown. Carburetor means for supplying a desired fuel mixture through the apertures 82 and 84 are well known and, therefore, need not be discussed, in detail, in this description.

Referring further to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the inner housing 14 is journalled for oscillation on inwardly extending bearing surfaces 94and 96, the bearing surface 94 being formed on the end wall 24 and the bearing surface 96 being formed on the end wall 26'. Disposed within the confines of the inner housing 14 and the end walls 24 and 26 is a means for coupling the inner housing 14 to the shaft 60 so that, when the inner housing 14 oscillates, the shaft 60 will rotate. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, such coupling means comprises an annular yoke 98 journalled for oscillation in the inner housing 14 by means, such as the bearing shafts 100 which penetrate the yoke 98 and the cylindrical wall of the inner housing 14, the shafts 100 defining an axis which preferably perpendicularly intersects the axes of the inner honing 14 and the outer housing 12. The end walls 24 and 26 are provided with spherically-concave cut-outs 102 and 104, respectively, for receiving the yoke 98. Preferably, the outer surface of the yoke 98 is formed with a spherical radius just slightly less than the radius of the spherical enclosure formed by the cut-outs 102 and 104. The reason for this feature will become apparent as this description progresses. A wobble plate 106, which is received in the yoke 98, is rigidly mounted on the shaft 60 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wobble plate 106 hav' ing a cylindrical outer surface. A conventional bearing 108 is received :between the inner diameter of the yoke 98 and the outer diameter of the wobble plate 106, the inner race of the bearing 108 being engaged with the wobble plate 106 and the outer race of the bearing 108 being engaged with the inner diameter of the yoke 98. The wobble-plate drive just described is arranged so that when the yoke 98 is oscillated in the direction of the arrow 110 (FIG. 3) about the axis of the shafts 100, the shaft 60 will rotate in the direction of the arrow 112. Such wobble-plate drives for converting oscillatory motion to rotary motion are well known in the art and, therefore, need not be discussed in greater detail in this description.

The outer housing 12 is formed to provide four equally and radially spaced exhaust ports 114, 116, 118 and 120 as shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8, the exhaust port 114 being provided for the chamber 30, the exhaust port 116 being provided for the chamber 32, the exhaust port 118 being provided for the chamber 34 and the exhaust port 120 being provided for the chamber 36. Each exhaust port 114 through -120 is arranged to be opened and closed by movement of the piston which is disposed in the chamber for which the exhaust port is provided. For instance, the exhaust port 116 is closed when the piston 38 is adjacent the high-compression head 18 and opened when the piston 38 moves in the direction of the arrow 52 toward the lowcompression head 22. In a high-performance embodiment of the engine 10, the exhaust port of each chamber is opened by the piston disposed in the chamber as the piston moves from its high-compression head toward its lowcompression head just before the ports 56 of the chamber are opened by the piston. For instance, when the piston 38 moves in the direction of the arrow 52 toward the lowcompression head 22, the exhaust port 116 is opened just before the ports 56 in the end walls 24 and 26 are opened. Of course, when the piston 38 moves from the low-compression head 22 toward the high-compression head 18, the ports 56 are closed just before the exhaust port 116 is closed.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the low-compression heads 20 and 22 is provided with an opening 122 through which the shaft 60 extends, the opening 122 in the low-compression head 22 being shown clearly in FIG. 5. The opening 122, which extends in the direction of the shaft 60 and generally circumferentially through the low-compression head 22, has a depth less than the diameter of the shaft 60 so that the shaft prevents communication between the low-compression spaces of the chambers 32 and 34 through the opening 122. The opening 122 in the low-compression head 20 is identical to the opening 122 in the low-compression head 22.

The shaft 60 is formed with a flat portion 124 which extends axially along the opening 122 in the low-compression head 22 and into the interior of the inner housing 14 as shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8. Thus, when the shaft 60 is in the position shown in FIG. 5, the fuel mixture can flow from the interior of the inner housing 14 by the fiat portion 124 of the shaft 60 and through the opening 122 into the low-compression space of the chamber 32. When the shaft 60 is rotated 180 degrees from the position shown in FIG. 5, the fuel mixture can flow from the interior of the inner housing 14 by the flat portion 124 and into the lowcompression space of the chamber 34. The position of the shaft 60 in FIG. 5 is 90 degrees removed. from the position of the shaft 60 in FIG. 1. Thus, the flat portion 124 on the shaft 60 and the opening 122 in the low-compression head 22 provide a rotary valve means for admitting the fuel mixture from the interior of the inner housing 14 into the low-compression spaces of the chambers 32 and 34. It will be noted that this means of admitting the fuel mixture to the chambers 32 and 34 is in addition to the valve means comprising the aperture 66 and the shoes 70 and 72. The shaft 60 is formed to provide an additional flat portion 126 which is identical to the flat portion 124, but which is disposed on the opposite side of the shaft 60 relative to the flat portion 124. The flat portion 126 cooperates with the opening 122 in the low-compression head 20 to admit fuel to the low-compression spaces of the chamber 30 and the chamber 36.

Preferably, the outer housing 12 and the high-compression heads 16 and 18 are cooled by liquid which flows through the openings 130 in the housing 12 and the compression heads 16 and 18. It is conventional practice to cool an engine by passing a cooling liquid, such as water, through cavities in the engine housing. Thus, the illustrated means for cooling the engine 10 need not be discussed, in detail, in this description.

Preferably, each chamber 30, 32, 34 and 36 is provided with a pair of conventional sparkplugs 132 disposed adjacent the high-compression head 16 or 18 bounding the chamber. Four of the sparkplugs 132 are carried by the end wall 24 and four of the sparkplugs 132 are carried by the end wall 26. Referring to the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1, it will be seen that the high-compression heads 16 and 18 are provided with cut-outs 134 which receive the sparkplugs 132 extending inwardly from the end walls 24 and 26. Similarly, the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 are provided with cut-outs 136 which receive the sparkplugs 132 when the pistons are adjacent their respective highcompression heads 16 and 18. The arrangement of the sparkplugs 132 in the chamber 30, which is identical to the arrangement of the sparkplugs 132 in the chambers 32, 34 and 36, is shown in FIG. 2.

The sparkplugs 132 are conventional means for igniting a fuel mixture which is compressed in a chamber. The ignition system which is necessary to fire the sparkplugs 132 is not a part of this invention and, therefore, need not be discussed in this description.

Preferably, the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 are formed with a hollow, as indicated by the sectional view of the piston 40 in FIG. 1, thereby reducing the mass of each piston. It is conventional to fabricate pistons having the minimum possible mass in order to reduce inertia losses.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, the firing sequence of the engine will be discussed. Power impulses are exerted upon the oppositely disposed pistons 40 and 44 simultaneously to drive the pistons 40 and 44 in the direction of the arrow 138, then power impulses are exerted upon oppositely disposed pistons 38 and 42 simultaneously to drive the pistons 38 and 42 in a direction opposite to the arrow 138. Thus, when the fuel mixture is ignited in the chambers 30 and 34 to drive the pistons 44 and 40, respectively, in the direction of the arrow 138, the pistons 38 and 42 are driven in the direction of the arrow 138 to compress the fuel mixture in the chambers 32 and 36, respectively. When the compressed fuel mixture in the chambers 32 and 36 is ignited, the pistons 38 and 42 are driven in a direction opposite to the arrow 138, thereby driving the pistons 40 and 44 in a direction opposite to the arrow 138 to compress the fuel mixture in the chambers 34 and 30, respectively. The firing sequence just described causes the housing 14 to oscillate about its axis, thereby driving the shaft 60 in the direction of the arrow 140.

In FIG. 7, the pistons 40 and 44 are shown at the beginning of a power stroke and the pistons 38 and 42 are shown at the beginning of a compression stroke. In FIG. 8, the pistons 40 and 44 are shown generally in the center of their power stroke and the pistons 38 and 42 are shown generally in the center of their compression strokes. It will be seen that further movement of the pistons 40 and 44 from their position shown in FIG. 8 and in the direction of the arrow 138 will open the exhaust ports 118 and 114 to exhaust the chambers 34 and 30. Still further movement of the pistons 40 and 44 will open the ports 56 opening into the high-compression spaces of the chambers 34 and 30, thereby permitting the fuel mixture to flow into the high-compression spaces.

When the pistons 38 and 42 are in the position shown in FIG. 8, the fuel mixture in the housing 14 can flow through the aperture 66 and by the flat portion 124 into the low-compression space of the chamber 32 and through the aperture 68 and by the flat portion 126 into the lowcompression space of the chamber 36. Similarly, when the shaft 60 rotates 180 degrees in the direction of the arrow 140 from its position shown in FIG. 8, the fuel mixture can move from the inner housing 14 through the aperture 66 and by the fiat portion 124 into the lowcompression space of the chamber 34 and through the aperture 68 and by the flat portion 126 into the lowcompression space of the chamber 30. Referring to FIG. 8, it will be seen that as the fuel mixture is flowing by the flat portion 124 into the low-compression space of the chamber 32, the aperture 66 is moving still further away from the shoe 72 to admit more of the fuel mixture into the low-compression space of the chamber 32. In

the illustrative embodiment of the engine 10, when the aperture 66 has moved to the extent of its travel away from the shoe 72, the shaft 60 is in such a position that the fuel mixture cannot flow by the fiat portion 124. The positioning of the aperture '66 relative to the shoes 70 and 72 and the flat portion 124 is given by way of example and the positioning of the aperture 68 relative to the shoes 78 and 80 and the flat portion 126 is identical.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the engine 10 is an oscillating engine having four pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 carried by the inner housing 14 for oscillation therewith, the inner housing 14 defining a central space serving as a crankcase containing the means for coupling the housing 14 to the shaft 60 and for receiving the fuel mixture utilized by the engine. It will also be apparent that the outer housing 12 and end walls 24 and 26 define a relatively flat, cylindrically-shaped engine which is very compact and which includes a minimum of moving elements. The engine is designed and built for operation from one center, i.e., the coinciding axes of the housings 12 and 14. Thus, the engine is easily statically and dynamically balanced. It will be noted that no counterbalance weight are utilized.

In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the engine 10 is a two-cycle engine and, therefore, lubrieating oil is mixed with the fuel which is admitted to the interior of the inner housing 14. Thus, the oscillation of the housing 14 centrifugally pumps the fuel mixture radially outwardly toward the various moving parts. Of course, the yoke 98, shafts and bearing 108 are well lubricated by the fuel mixture. Since the fuel mixture flows by the flat portions 124 and 126 of the shaft 60, the bearings supporting the shaft 60 are well lubricated.

The outer housing 12 and high-compression heads 16 and 18 are preferably formed as an integral casting. Similarly, the housing 14 and the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 are also formed as an integral casting. The end walls 24 and 26 may be identical so that only one end wall casting is required.

It will be apparent that the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 may be formed so that their outer, larger ends are semicylindrical in transverse section. In such a case, the outer housing 12 and end walls 24 and 26 must be formed to receive the pistons having the semi-cylindrical shape.

The described embodiment is a high-performance engine because each chamber 30, 32, 34 and 3 6 is divided into a low-compression space and a high-compression space by the piston which oscillates therein, and because the fuel mixture is admitted to the low-compression space of each chamber and then forced into the high-compression space of the chamber by the piston. That is, by forcing the fuel mixture into the high-compression space, more fuel mixture can be ignited to produce more power. The engine 10, therefore, has its own built-in supercharger.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carburetor openings 82 and 84 in the end walls 24 and 26, respectively, are opened and closed by the oscillation of the yoke 98 about the axis of the shafts 100. Thus, when the yoke 98 is pivoted away from the openings 82 and 84, the fuel mixture enters the interior of the inner housing 14 and, when the yoke 98 is in a position to close the openings 82 and 84, the fuel mixture cannot be blown back through the carburetion means.

In a conventional two-cycle engine, the piston opens and closes the intake port through which the fuel mixture is supplied to the compression chamber, the intake port being opened when the piston moves away from the highcompression head and closed when the piston moves toward the high-compression head. Thus, the timing of the opening and closing of the intake port is fixed relative to the movement of the piston. The engine 10 has two intake ports for admitting the fuel mixture to the low-compression space of each chamber, one of these ports being opened and closed by the movement of the piston disposed in the chamber and the other of these ports being opened and closed by the rotation of the shaft 60. Thus, the timing for admitting the fuel mixture to the low-compression space of each chamber is not dependent entirely on the movement of the piston in the chamber.

Finally, it will be apparent that the engine of the present invention comprises very few moving parts. In fact, all of the pistons 38, 40, 42 and 44 move together with the housing 14 as one moving part. The only other moving parts are the shaft 60 and the wobble drive assembly which drivingly connects the inner housing 14 to the shaft '60. This small number of moving parts increases the efiiciency of the engine as well as reduces its cost of manufacture.

I claim as my invention:

1. An engine comprising a stationary outer housing, an inner housing within said outer housing and oscillable about an axis, at least one radially outwardly extending vane-like piston carried by said inner housing for oscillation therewith, a first radially inwardly extending highcompression head carried by said outer housing,a second radially inwardly extending low-compression head carried by said outer housing and angularly spaced from said first head, said piston extending outwardly between said heads, said outer and inner housings and said compression heads defining an arcuate chamber in which said piston is disposed, said piston being oscillable between said compression heads, a shaft journalled in said outer housing to extend diametrically through said low-compression head and said inner housing, said inner housing having a circumferentially elongated aperture in the wall thereof for receiving said shaft, said aperture providing a port communicating between the interior of said inner housing and the space in said chamber bounded by said lowcompression head and said piston, means for closing said port when said piston is adjacent said low-compression head and opening said port when said piston is adjacent said high-compression head, said inner housing being arranged to receive a fuel mixture in said interior, said outer housing being formed to provide a passageway communicating between said space bounded by said piston and said low-compression head and the space bounded by said piston and said high-compression head, said passageway being open when said piston approaches said low-compression head and closed when said piston approaches said high-compression head, and means for drivingly coupling said inner housing to said shaft so that, when said inner housing oscllates, said shaft rotates.

2. An engine as in claim 1 wherein said outer and inner housings are cylindrically-shaped, wherein the axis of said shaft is perpendicular to and intersecting the axes of said inner and outer housing, the axis of said inner housing coinciding with the axis of said outer housing, and wherein said means for closing said port is carried by said low-compression head, and further comprising means providing a seal between said piston and the walls of said chamber defined by said outer housing, and means providing a seal between said compression heads and said inner housing.

3. An engine as in claim 1 wherein said low-compression head is provided with an opening through which said shaft extends, said opening being in communication with said space bounded by said piston and said lowcompression head, said shaft being formed with an axially extending fiat portion which extends into said interior of said inner housing through said opening in said lowcompression head into said chamber when said piston approaches said high-compression head.

4. An engine as in claim 1 wherein said outer housing is formed to provide an exhaust port in its outer wall, said exhaust port being closed by said piston when said piston is adjacent said highcompression head and opened by said piston when said piston moves toward said lowcompression head, said exhaust port being opened by saidp iston before said pasageway is opened by said piston.

5. An engine as in claim 2 wherein said outer housing is provided with a centrally located aperture through which the fuel mixture is admitted to said interior of said inner housing, and wherein said coupling means comprises an oscillating element arranged to open and close said aperture when said inner housing oscillates.

6. An engine as in claim 2 wherein said means for closing and opening said port comprises a circumferentially extending shoe carried by said low-compression head and arranged to engage the outer cylindrical surface of said inner housing, and wherein said piston is provided with a cut-out at its base for receiving said shoe.

7. An engine comprising an outer wall, a cylindrical, inner wall, front and back end walls, said outer and inner walls being formed about a common axis, said inner wall being oscillable about its axis relative to said outer wall and end walls, a radially outwardly extending, vanelike piston carried by said inner wall for oscillation therewith, a first stationary, radially inwardly extending highcompression head carried by said outer Wall, a second stationary, radially inwardly extending low-compression head carried by said outer wall and angularly spaced from said first head, said piston being disposed between said heads, said inner and outer walls, end walls and compression heads defining an arcuate chamber in which said piston is oscillably received, said piston .being oscillable between said compression heads, one of said end walls being formed to provide a pasageway communicating between the space bounded by said piston and said low-compression head and the space bounded by said piston and said high-compression head, said passageway being opened and closed by said piston, said passageway being open when said piston is adjacent said low-compression head and closed when said piston approaches said high-compression head, means for admitting a fuel mixture into said first-mentioned space, said fuel mixture being forced by said piston from said first-mentioned space through said passageway .into the secondmentioned space, means for igniting said fuel mixture in said second-mentioned space when said piston is adjacent said high-compression head, said outer wall being formed to provide an exhaust port which is opened and closed by said piston, said exhaust port being arranged to be opened when said piston moves toward said low-compression head, an output shaft and means for coupling said inner wall to said output shaft so that, when said inner wall oscillates, said shaft rotates, said shaft being journalled to extend diametrically through said low-compression head and said inner Wall, the axis of said shaft being perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of said inner wall, said inner wall being provided with a circumferentially elongated aperture for receiving said shaft, said aperture opening into said first-mentioned space when said piston is adajcent said high-compression head, and a second chamber defined, in part, by said inner wall, said second chamber being internal to said inner wall, and wherein said means for admitting said fuel mixture into said first-mentioned space comprises means for admitting said fuel mixture into said second chamber, said fuel mixture being drawn into said first-mentioned space through said aperture when said piston moves toward said highcompression head, and means carried by said low-compression head and engaged with said inner wall to prevent flow of said fuel mixture through said aperture when said piston approaches said low-compression head.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,037,094 8/1912 Williams 123-18 3,190,270 6/ 1965 Peterson 123--18 3,299,867 1/1967 Ficsur et al 123-18 FOREIGN PATENTS 103,650 4/1938 Australia. 908,676 4/ 1954 Germany.

WENDELL E. BURNS, Primary Examiner. 

